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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The tale of Mokie

There was a time that cats were allowed to walk and play outside. For a lot of cats things have changed. There are dangers everywhere, from fast moving cars to people with less than friendly intentions, and as a result people chose to keep their pets indoors. Just one of the dangers is related by Rex Trulove, our guest blogger for today.

Rex is one of mom's fellow Heliumites (a website where writers get paid to share their expertise by writing articles and stories). He tells the tale of Mokie. To learn more about Rex, please visit the link at the bottom of this blog post.

I love cats. When we moved into a new home, we didn't have any. My son managed to catch a gray tiger stripe, though it was so wild it hissed, bit and scratched him. We called her Mochus Lopes, Modoc Indian for "owl eyes" because her eyes were huge.

Mokie quickly adopted me. When I came home from work, she'd leap to my shoulder, where she would curl up and go to sleep, regardless of my movements.

Mokie grew bigger and learned to love everyone in the family. She also grew much friendlier to others. She didn't like cars, but she liked people, so we let her have free access to the outside in the summer. People would stop and pet her on the sidewalk. She loved the attention, naturally.

One late spring, Mokie didn't show up. She ALWAYS came home for her special dinner. We went out looking for her, but there was no sign of her. We alerted neighbors. Over the course of the next few weeks, there wasn't a time we went outside without calling for her and looking for her. It was as if she'd disappeared from the earth.

Spring turned to summer, then to fall. No sign of Mokie, though, the whole time. Even the neighbors were saddened, because she would go and say hello, before returning home. Everyone was fond of her.

By November, we knew we'd seen the last of her. Snows had begun to fall, and Mokie definitely didn't like snow. She couldn't even be coaxed into going outside if it was snowing.

On December 14, we prepared for bed as usual. We'd tried our best to forget about Mokie, because that brought tears. That night was special, though. We laid down and started to read our books, a nightly exercise, when there was a thump against the bedroom window. The curtains were open, and as I looked around, there was Mokie, snow flying around her and pawing to ask to get let inside.

Believe me, it took seconds to get the window open and to let her in!

She was skin and bones, as if she hadn't eaten in many days. She was shivering, and the pads of her paws were almost bloody. She'd come a long way, to get home. She also would not leave us alone. We fixed her food, but she wouldn't eat it until we brought it into the bedroom. Then she ate ravenously.

That night, she curled up right between us, purring loudly every time we moved. That was 16 years ago, but she still curls up between us, or on top of me, and purrs when we move. She won't go near strangers, though, and she hates cars.

All I can surmise, and this is a guess, is that someone picked her up out in front of our home, then transported her some distance to their home. They probably locked her in the house. One day, it was likely that someone left the door open a little to much, and she zapped out, then started the long trek home. Judging from her paws, it would have been in excess of 1000 miles, and I have no clue how she survived the trip.

She is currently laying on the back of the couch, right behind my wife, and is content. She just doesn't like visitors or cars.